Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Joyous, Peaceful, Safe and Fulfilling New Year!

Thank you for being such great supporters of TheWayItCrumbles since it first opened in the middle of the year. You have all encouraged us to write more, improve my photography, eat more (^^!) and actually learn to cook. To the foodblogging community of Sydney, thankyou for making us feel welcome, and for introducing us to Adriano Zumbo, and a host of other places which we have/will visit and definitely enjoy/ed.

In case you haven’t noticed yet, we have a new site which is undergoing renovations at the moment. Please take a gander over at http://blogs.thewayitcrumbles.com, and do try to duck if the walls fall down – We promise we’ll fix them soon! (…okay too many feathered puns in that ^^;;;;). Update your links, we’ll be back to regular posting very soon, and hopefully have a few treats for you all in the next couple months =)

Ok, so the title had absolutely nothing to do with this post – it was just something to get your attention… the geekier among you might identify where it comes from though…

Worst yet, my last ‘post’ was a fraud, perpetrated by Chris, so I shall betray now the fact that I don’t actually have the technical skills to get a photo into a post since WordPress was upgraded… xD

But don’t let that stop you from visiting http://blogs.thewayitcrumbles.com – if you think it looks a bit familiar, then you’re probably right. Change your bookmarks, invite yourselves in and make yourselves at home – the hostess herself will be there shortly.

Having heard numerous reviews about this place, particularly its tendency to be packed out, we came hungry and eager and early. The wait wasn’t too long for our party of 3, which was good, but granted, we arrived very shortly after 12, and it was already full, with a waiting list of about 4 tables. Thankfully, service was fairly prompt and unobtrusive, topping up water glasses discreetly, and bringing out orders relatively quickly.

Shio Butter Ramen, with extra Pork

Tim’s bowl – he had apparently been on the previous Saturday (without telling me, or taking photos!), and had ordered the Shio Ramen, in case I scolded him for the added butter. Naturally, I demanded he get it this time, so I could try some xD. The extra pork was needed – as you can see from the bowl below, the bowls ordinarily come with just one piece of pork, which is so not enough, given the size of the bowl. Extra pork (4 slices) will cost you though, but is worth sharing. The butter added a touch of decadence to the fairly good bowl of soup, a little more depth, and went particularly well with the sweet corn. Tim wasn’t sure it was worth the extra $1.50 though, compared to the original Shio Ramen.

Very Hot Ramen

B hasn’t been on one of our foodie trips before, and looked slightly bemused as I whipped out a camera and took a shot of his bowl before he had even picked up his chopsticks. He said that the ‘Very Hot’ ramen, was indeed, very hot, and finished it, soup and all.

Karaage Ramen

Mine! I haven’t had ramen for a while, and this was very much one of the better examples I’ve tried. The soup was savoury and unami-laden, and noodles deliciously slurpable. The karaage chicken was so-so – nice and crisp before soaking up the soup and tender on the inside, but could so totally be jazzed up a little. I didn’t get as much corn, or any beansprouts as Tim, which made me ‘sadface’, but stealing some from him made my meal feel a little more balanced.

In general, it’s a good eat, and I can see why it’s popular. I can’t help but feel distinctly ripped off though, particularly with the cost of toppings (or lack thereof). One of my major complaints about a popular Vietnamese Pho Restaurant is its exuberant pricing on extras, and Ichi-Ban Boshi has a little of the same feel, although the serving sizes themselves are quite reasonable. Other than that, look at paying between $10 to $14 for a bowl of ramen. Not quite uni-student fare, but otherwise very much passable.

The Lindt Cafe is a haven in a city of bustle and business. Not as ‘cozy’ as Max Brenners or San Churros, but polished and well matched to the suits which cue up for coffee and hot chocolates, it is a place we frequent often. My trip with Ms Music was the first time I sampled any of the cakes on display, though truffles, delices and drinks have all found a happy home with me.

My pick. I love this particular flavour combination, and would love to try to recreate it. I was disappointed with the chocolate shards around though, too obviously refrigerated and flavourless compared to what I expect of Lindt chocolate, and the value…well…definitely to be a rare treat, I think.

I’m not having a particularly good run of cooking recently. Perhaps it is the maternal figure continually nagging me to go learn how to do things properly, or the numerous ‘I told you you should have done this’ (and not from my own head, I’ve long learned to block that out).

Anyway, this sad attempt looks pretty, and the strawberries were awesome – heady scents, and sweet, straight from the farm. On the downside, the genoise was dense, with large rough crumbs and eggy, while the mousseline…well…where to begin with the mousseline.

My first attempt at making the pastry cream flopped. It resulted in a pastry cream so bouncy and thick, I could imagine it talking back. Yes, it had that much attitude. I tried salvaging it by adding milk a little at a time, and it eventually smoothed out again. Which made for a decent pastry cream, but didn’t come together as a mousseline upon adding butter the next day.

The second attempt looked reasonable, but was possibly undercooked, and ended up too runny, and not setting. So, it went into the freezer so I could get a reasonable shot, but someone tilted it before it had frozen, so that the surface wasn’t smooth anymore.

Once out of the freezer, it melted really quickly, and was too sweet for my liking (which says a lot, seeing what a sweet tooth I have).

I don’t want to give up, it’s such a beautiful cake, so I’m putting a call out – Any suggestions, recipes, tips and hints to make this work?

Having finished uni for the year, I feel the need to catch up with my friends – so I present to you a series of “(not)Salad Days” – because we most likely will not be eating salad ;) I spent the day with Ms Chocolate.

We visited the new Regent Shopping Centre behind the KFC at Town Hall, and spent over an hour and a half in the grocery store!